Jan. 17—ROCHESTER — Eric Kerska said serving nearly seven years as Rochester’s fire chief wasn’t his favorite job in his three-decade career with the city department.
“This job is totally different,” he said of leading the department. “I never set out to do this job. It just kind of happened.”
The fire chief, who retired Friday, said his favorite assignment was his 11 years as captain.
“I enjoyed the response. … You are working on a team, and you are solving complex problems for people,” said Kerska, who joined the department as a firefighter in 1994.
“You never knew what you were going to get, and it was so fun figuring out how to help people through varied stuff, from water in a basement to fires to an iguana stuck in a tree,” he added.
The chief said rescuing an iguana that latched onto the sleeve of his coat was one of several unique experiences in his career, but his career never involved a cat trapped in a tree, since most felines are more adept at rescuing themselves.
“In 30 years and nine months, I never found a skeleton of a cat in a tree,” he joked. “Somehow, they always get down.”
While a path to leadership wasn’t in Kerska’s early plans, department and city leaders said Friday they are happy he found one.
City Administrator Alison Zelms, who joined the city staff after Kerska was tapped as chief in 2018, said his leadership has been important to the city.
“You are a mentor, and you also held people accountable,” she told him during a retirement ceremony Friday afternoon. “But it’s lonely at the top, and thanks for being here. I respect you for making the hard decisions, with the courage of your convictions.”
Reflecting on the work that has been done since he became a firefighter, Kerska said the department’s greatest challenge has been responding to the growing needs of a city that has seen the population change from 76,000 when he joined the department to approximately 125,000 today.
With the growth expected to continue, he said he’s grateful the Rochester City Council is supporting a strategic plan to grow the department and eventually add a new fire station.
“It’s a good thing to try to plan, rather than react,” he said.
While he oversaw the development of the plan in his years as chief, Kerska said he considers his greatest accomplishment to be championing mental health services for firefighters.
“We’ve been doing great with physical fitness for years … but my folks see a lot of bad stuff, and how do you keep them healthy mentally,” he said.
The department has started consulting with a licensed psychiatrist and implemented a chaplain program to provide support.
“The chaplain program has been amazing, not only for my folks, but what we didn’t anticipate is the positive impact on the citizens. … The chaplains are helping our folks help the citizens through some of this stuff,” Kerska said, pointing out firefighters frequently meet residents at traumatic points in their lives.
On Friday, chaplains in the department’s program thanked the chief for his efforts and said the work he started will continue.
“For generations to come, people will be able to look at you and say ‘those are the shoulders on which I now stand,'” fire department chaplin.Todd Looney said.
Deputy Chief Holly Mulholland echoed the sentiment and extended it to Kerska’s family.
“He and you are leaving the department a little bit better,” she told Kerska’s family members gathered with other Rochester residents during Friday’s ceremony.
As he transitions to being a Rochester resident, rather than a city employee, Kerska said he’s waiting to make plans for his future. After a firefighter career and 32 years in the U.S. Army and National Guard, he said he’s entering new territory.
“I’m not making any firm plans, and it’s the first time in my adult life where I haven’t had a plan,” he said. “That in itself is a little unnerving.”
With the change, he is confident he’s leaving the fire department in good hands.
He spent two weeks with the new fire chief, Mason Pooler, who started on Jan. 6.
Pooler has worked in Wisconsin fire departments since 1998 and has served as chief in West Allis, Wisconsin, since 2017.
“Couple his experience with the great team we have, and this is going to be fine,” he said of the Rochester department. “I have great people who know their jobs.”
Pooler said he’s proud to follow in Kerska’s footsteps.
“As I step into the role as fire chief, I respect the legacy that we’ve all inherited from you and I understand my responsibility to continue to honor it,” he told Kerska during Friday’s retirement ceremony.
“Your impact on this department, the city and the people you led will never be forgotten,” he added.